Buildup of a highly twisted magnetic flux rope during a solar eruption

Wensi Wang, Rui Liu (), Yuming Wang, Qiang Hu, Chenglong Shen, Chaowei Jiang and Chunming Zhu
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Wensi Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Rui Liu: University of Science and Technology of China
Yuming Wang: University of Science and Technology of China
Qiang Hu: The University of Alabama in Huntsville
Chenglong Shen: University of Science and Technology of China
Chaowei Jiang: Institute of Space Science and Applied Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology
Chunming Zhu: Montana State University

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The magnetic flux rope is among the most fundamental magnetic configurations in plasma. Although its presence after solar eruptions has been verified by spacecraft measurements near Earth, its formation on the Sun remains elusive, yet is critical to understanding a broad spectrum of phenomena. Here we study the dynamic formation of a magnetic flux rope during a classic two-ribbon flare. Its feet are identified unambiguously with conjugate coronal dimmings completely enclosed by irregular bright rings, which originate and expand outward from the far ends of flare ribbons. The expansion is associated with the rapid ribbon separation during the flare main phase. Counting magnetic flux through the feet and the ribbon-swept area reveals that the rope’s core is more twisted than its average of four turns. It propagates to the Earth as a typical magnetic cloud possessing a similar twist profile obtained by the Grad-Shafranov reconstruction of its three dimensional structure.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01207-x

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